How Enemies Become Brothers
by Petchricor
Summary: When Robin gets infected with a mind virus that is causing him to see everyone as Slade one extremely unlikely hero will rise to the challenge of fixing the teenagers broken mind. And even though forming a friendship was never the plan, it still happens *rated T just in case*


**Just a random idea I had randomly. Don't ask how I got it I just kinda did (like all writers). No, this isn't ship fix, hence the word 'brothers', but if you wanna see it that way I can't exactly stop you, so feel free. Enjoy ^_^**

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Red-X yawned as he looked the data over again for the seventeenth time. What had he gotten himself into? If the Titans found him he'd be in so much trouble, not that he should be considering he was helping Robin. Well, he was trying to anyway, the scans weren't coming up with anything. Whoever poisoned the kid's brain was very good at what they did, whether it was tech or drug that was making Robin see everyone as Slade he didn't know yet.

Just as he was about to call it a night a terror filled yell pierced through the halls of X's hideout. Pressing the power button quickly X bolted down the hall to the room he had let Robin sleep in while he was here. He skidded to a halt before the door and opened it, inside Robin lay on the floor with his blankets sprawled out under him as he screamed softly in his sleep, calling out desperately for help.

"Robin!" X called out to the sleeping figure, going over and kneeling next to him. X grabbed Robin by the shoulders and shook. "Robin! Wake up! You're dreaming!" Robin's eyes snapped open with a startled yell and he grabbed X's arms in shock, staring at the older teen. "Robin? Are you ok? Oof!" X grunted as Robin nearly knocked him over with a hug. X stared down in surprise at the trembling figure that was clinging to him, then slowly hugged him back, rubbing this back in an effort to comfort him.

"Slade, he nearly killed me and kept telling me that no on cared, that I'd die alone. He stabbed me in the chest, I was dying and no one even noticed me bleeding out in the middle of the street. I was alone," Robin whispered shakily. X gripped him a bit tighter with a frown, not liking the tone the other boy had when he spoke of the fate his dream had given him.

"You're not alone kid, I'm right here and I'm not leaving you right when you need me," X told him. Robin's grip tightened as well and X gave his hair a light ruffle. "Whatddya saw to a spar, to help clear your mind?" Robin smiled and pulled back from the hug.

"You know just how to cheer me up. A spar it is, prepare to lose." Robin smirked up at the older teen and got to his feet to stand in front of X. X scoffed and got to his feet as well.

"Yeah, right. Keep dreaming kid." Robin's smirk turned into a full-out grin and X huffed with a shake of his head, then headed towards the door. "This way short stuff." Robin snorted at the nickname and followed X out of the room.

AΩ

"Tea?" Robin shrugged as X put a kettle on his stove. "I'll make you a cup just in case then." Robin laughed at that and X frowned, arms folding over his chest. "Hey, I'm being nice here. Don't laugh." Robin made a funny noise and stopped laughing, putting hands up in defense.

"All right, I'll stop," Robin agreed as X sat across from him. The two boys feel into a comfortable silence then as they waited for the tea to be ready. Robin leaned back in his chair, arm draped over the back lazily while X stared up at the ceiling. Over the course of two weeks they had gone from being enemies to classic roommates, almost friends in fact, and it oddly didn't feel as wrong as it probably should have. The tea pot whistled and X got up, filling two mugs with steaming water and putting the teabags in.

"Ah, Ginger Root tea. It's the best," X told him as he handed Robin the mug, sipping his own with a content smile and letting out a happy sigh when he was done. X sat down as Robin chuckled, blowing on the hot beverage he held in his hands, and took another sip.

"You always say that," Robin remarked in good humor. X shrugged and both chuckled as they sipped their tea. "Hey, wanna do a Quip Battle?" X smirked from his sipping and put the mug down giving Robin a funny look, getting a chuckle. "All right. You go first this time." X hummed in thought, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb.

"Oh! I got one!" X snapped his fingers and turned to look at Robin. "Ok, so one time I was robbing this bank and running down the street carrying two bags of pure gold, the cops were chasing me and firing and blah blah blah you know how the drill goes. Anyway! So, one of them shouted at me freeze just as I let loose one of the bags of gold and it hit him right in face. And I said, 'hope I didn't break that golden smile of yours'." Robin snickered and shook his head.

"That's so cheesy," Robin commented. X shrugged and gestured towards Robin, who hummed in thought. "Ok, I got one, I'll start out lame since you did. Wouldn't want to make it too interesting too fast." X snorted and sipped his tea. "Doctor Light robbed a high security vault that had energy cells that would fuel him for a weak. Anyway, so we were chasing him when Raven put her black energy around him and smashed all his tech as well as the energy cells. And I said, 'Your lights are out, guess you'll have to get a new name, Doc'." X snorted in amusement.

"That's so childish! Ok, I've got one to raise the bar! In fact, it was in a bar. Anyway, so I managed to sneak into this bar where a lot of villains hang out, no I won't tell you it's a secret, and I was talking with-uh, what's his name? Um…it's uh-oh yeah! Mumbo Jumbo, that's his name. Anyway, so we were talking and he showed me his hat and was going on and on about Raven and her tricks and I told him, 'What's the matter oldy? Been out goofed?'" Robin shook his head.

"That was terrible, it wasn't even a quip!" Robin remarked. X huffed and sipped his tea. "But I'll let you have it because mine's better. So, the team and I were fighting Mammoth and he got caught on one of the machines in the room, I turned it on and twirled him around in so many circles that even I started to get sick. Anyway, he got tossed and stuck in the wall and I said, 'I like my villains stirred, not shaken'." Robin jumped when X burst into laughter, setting his mug down just in time for him to fall over.

"Ok, ok! I give yup, you are the quip master!" X got up and sat back down and Robin snickered at how much he overreacted, it hadn't been that funny, but he didn't say anything as he sipped his tea with a forced smile at the taste.

AΩ

"ROBIN! Give me my belt back!" X screamed as he chased the laughing wonder boy through the halls of his hideout, both skidding around corners and leaping over boxes. They came into the kitchen and Robin rounded the counter, stuck on the other side as X cornered him with a glare as he waited for movement. "I mean it, this isn't funny!" Robin kept laughing and phsyced X by flinching one way then running the other as he laughed.

"I beg to differ!" Robin shouted behind him as he skidded around the corner and continued to run. "Gah!" Robin cried out as he was yanked back by his cap and tackled to the ground by the bigger teen. Robin shoved a hand up at his face in an effort to get away but only got dragged back by the legs and pinned to the ground again. X jumped to his feet with belt in hand and clicked it back on.

"Don't do that," X scolded that chuckling teen. "It's not funny!" Robin didn't stop as he got to his feet. X glared, huffed and walked away leaving Robin to his chuckling.

AΩ

"Robin!" Starfire hugged her friend tight when he entered the tower. "We were so worried! Where have you been?" Robin looked around at his teem, no longer looking like Slade, and smiled happily. X had fixed it and everything was back to normal.

"Just fixing my head. But I'm back now and that's what matters." Everyone started talk at ounce happily but Robin felt so far away. After being with X so much it was going to take quite awhile to readjust to being a Titan again. Robin grunted as he was dragged by Starfire over to the couch to celebrate his return with the others, putting a smile on his face as he let himself be dragged.

AΩ

"Are you drinking tea?" Raven asked in confusion, brow raised slightly at the sight of Robin stirring the hot water in his mug. Robin nodded and sipped contently at the kitchen counter, letting out a content sigh as he set it down.

"Ginger Root, it's the best," he informed her. Raven just nodded slowly and went back to reading her book. Robin stared down into his mug as he remembered how often he said no to X's offer for tea before finally giving in and slowly learning to love the taste. Over the last week of being a Titan again it the tea felt like the only tie he had to an old friend.

He had lost count of how many times X had helped him after a nightmare with a good spar and a nice, hot cup of Ginger Root tea or how many times they had Quip Battles that ended with them on the floor laughing so hard sometimes they were tearing up and couldn't breathe or how many times they had pranked each other in their boredom. Robin signed with a mix of fondness and sadness and took another sip of his favorite tea.

AΩ

X sipped the last of his tea and let out a satisfied sigh as he put the mug in the sink. He found himself staring down at the mug for a moment before letting out another sigh, one of sadness. He missed sharing his tea with a friend and having Quip Battles and chasing Robin around when he stole his belt and always having a sparring partner when he was bored. X walked down to his room and sat on his bunk in the silence that now surrounded him in the loneliness. Robin had been like a little brother to him and now he was gone, X had nothing.

The silence was broken, however, by a wild beeping that made X jump in surprise to his feet and had him searching for the source of the annoying sound until finally he found Robin's communicator under the bed. He hesitated due to confusion but opened it hear explosions and fighting in the background.

"X, I know you're there!" Robin shouted as another explosion when off. "We need assistance. Slade attacked Titan Tower, he-GAH!" There was an explosion then just white noise as Robin was cut off. The yellow communicator hit the floor as X grabbed his belt and put in on as he ran out down the hall as fast as he could.

AΩ

"Give it up, Robin. I win," Slade said with a smirk in his tone. Robin groaned as he lay fallen beside his teammates, raising his head to look at Slade with a glare. "That's right, stay." Slade raised his gun and pointed right at Robin's head, the boy's eyes widening. "So long, boy wonder."

"Heads up!" Slade turned and yelled out wordlessly as he was kicked to the ground. X landed perfectly on the ground and got to his feet, unsheathing a large and spiky red X as he glared at Slade. "Nobody messes with my little brother! Come on, kid, we got butt to kick." Robin took the hand X had offered to him and got to his feet, raising a brow.

"Brother?" X shrugged and both turned as Slade got to his feet. His question now forgotten Robin took out his battle rod, bringing it to full length as X brought his own weapon to bare. Slade took a stance and narrowed his eye at them. Robin smirked and glanced at X. "Shall we?" X smirked as well and nodded then with a loud shout they both attacked the maniac before them.

AΩ

"So, wait, he's our friend now?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg as he walked down the hall towards breakfast. Raven hovered behind them with her book and Starfire walked beside her, trying to see what she was reading. Cyborg just grunted in response to the question and Beast Boy groaned, not liking having an old enemy living in their house. As they opened the door to the main room the smell of pancakes, eggs, and bacon filled their noises.

"Whoa," Raven said as she put her feet on the ground, book disappearing in midair as she saw the food on the table. Beast Boy frowned at the meat as his friends passed him. "Who-" Raven stopped mid-sentence as she saw Robin and X over in the kitchen, filling another plate with six pancakes and some eggs. "Oh…" X nodded and took the plate, walking over to the frowning Beast Boy.

"I heard someone likes tofu?" Beast Boy turned his head to look at the plate X had offered to him, noticing that the eggs and pancakes were just the kind he liked. He grinned and took it from him.

"Thanks, dude!" X just nodded and walked back to the kitchen, catching the milk Robin tossed him and both took the drinks to the table. Beast Boy set his plate down and sat in front of it. "Come on, guys!" The others hesitated as they sat down.

"Don't worry, he didn't poison it. I was here the whole time," Robin told them as he sat down as well, X sitting on his right. They others all nodded and helped themselves to food Robin and X had made. "Though he did put some weird ingredient in it…" Everyone stopped chewing and stared blankly at Robin, who looked clueless. X swallowed and turned to glare at him.

"That's not funny," he scolded and Robin snickered. X gave him a light shove. "I didn't do anything you twat! Stop lying!" Robin laughed and shoved him back, eating his eggs.

"I'm kidding guys, he didn't do anything." They all glared at Robin and kept eating their food in silence as if to punish him from his joke. "Guys, come on! I was joking! OOF!" Everyone looked over as Robin fell on the floor, X's hand out. The others snickered as Robin got up and sat back down, the two glaring at each other.

AΩ

Robin shot up with a shout in bed, the nightmare starting to fade as reality hit his senses. He sighed and ran a hand over his face then through his hair. He hadn't had any nightmares in awhile but it seemed that he might never get rid of them forever, the experience of seeing everyone as Slade had put a lot of strain on his mind. Robin jumped as the door opened and lost posed to strike when a voice spoke.

"You ok?" Robin relaxed as he saw X was entering the room, door closing behind him, and sat next to him. "Another nightmare?" Robin nodded. X put a hand on his shoulder a moment before pulling the younger teen into a half hug, gripping tightly. "Don't worry, big bro's gotchya." Robin smiled and hugged X. After the fight with Slade the two agreed that they were like brothers and stared acting like it more and more and even started addressing each other like that.

"Thanks, X," Robin told him. X just nodded and sat there, letting Robin settle his mind and stop trembling slightly from the nightmare. "Could we have some tea?" X laughed and nodded again, both getting up to make some Ginger Root tea.

And that's the story of how two enemies became brothers.

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**And that's a wrap!**

Thanks for reading, please review, and have a bow chicka bow wow day!

Petchricor, QotG, signing off ;)


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